How to Apply Visas for Thailand Vietnam and Cambodia Tour

Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam are three outstanding destinations in Southeast Asia that lie in the former area known as French Indochina. Hugely popular destinations among international visitors to Asia, these three unique countries are often visited as part of a longer tour combining all three into one. For anyone planning a trip to Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam together, it is essential to know how to get the visas for each of these three destinations, to ensure that you will be able to get in when you travel from one to the other.

Types of Thailand visa and how to apply for it?

Visitors to Thailand are required to obtain their visa from an embassy, unless they come from one of the 58 visa-free nations or one of the 21 nations that are permitted to use the visa-on-arrival services. Visas cost around US$ 30, but are subject to change without notice.

Thailand visa

With majority of the countries from which visitors to Thailand originate having a visa-free eligibility, applications for visas are relatively few. And the only requirements for those with visa-free travel is to have six month’s validity in your passport.

Embassy

Visas are available from any Thai embassy around the world, and take around three days to process. However, the application requirements are a little stricter for Thailand than in other Indochinese countries for those who are required to have a visa. As well as needing to have six month’s validity on your passport and the photo, you will need to have a fully paid outbound ticket and at least 20,000 baht as proof of financial means.

Thailand Embassy

Visa on Arrival

Thailand allows the visa-on-arrival service for 21 countries, and allows stays of up to 15 days. These visas cannot be extended, but can be applied for at any airport or land border crossing. The same requirements as the advance visa from the embassy apply, although the cost is only around 1,000 baht (US$ 15). The 21 countries allowed to use the service are: Andorra, Bhutan, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Thailand Visa on Arrival

Types of Vietnam visa and how to apply for it?

Visitors to Vietnam must obtain a visa from one of the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or embassies around the world or through their online portal for the visa-on-arrival service, unless they are citizens of one of the 24 countries that can travel visa-free. However, citizens of every country can travel to the island of Phu Quoc without a visa for up to 30 days as long as they fly direct to the island from outside Vietnam.

Vietnam visa

For those countries with visa exemptions, they can stay in Vietnam for up to 15 days, and include all ASEAN nations as well as visitors from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. However, extensions are not available, and visitors must exit the country for a minimum period of 30 days before visa-free re-entry.

Embassy

As with all embassy-issued visas, it normally takes around three days to process the visa, and requires your original passport with six month’s validity and two passport photos.

Visa on Arrival

The Vietnam visa-on-arrival service actually requires you to make your initial application online or through an approved agency before traveling. The application requires you to know the date and place of travel into Vietnam and payment of the visa fee. You will then receive an approval letter which you must show at the airport and provide two passport-sized photos and pay the visa stamp fee. The immigration officials at your entry port will then issue your visa. Visa-on-arrival is not available at land border crossings.

E-visa

The Vietnam e-visa is the easiest and best way to obtain a visa for the country, and the process is very simple. Once applied and paid for online, after uploading a scanned (color) copy of your passport photo page, the visa is issued as a PDF document which you must print and show on your arrival in Vietnam. It is valid for 30 days from the date of entry, and can be extended for up to one month more. Currently, the following nations are permitted to use the e-visa service: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Myanmar, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Vietnam Evisa

Types of Cambodia visa and how to apply for it?

Cambodia has three main ways to apply for a visa when traveling to the country. You can apply through an embassy, online, or on arrival at the border or airport. Visas are normally valid for a 30-day period from the date of entry and require a valid passport with at least six month’s validity plus two blank pages and two passport-sized photos. Standard 30-day tourist visas cost US$ 30. Currently, holders of passports from the following countries do not require a visa for stays of up to 30 days: Brunei (14 days), Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines (21 days), Seychelles (14 days), Singapore, Thailand (14 days), and Vietnam.

Embassy

While any nationality can apply for a visa with their local embassy or consulate of the Royal Embassy of the Kingdom of Cambodia in their home or resident country, some nationalities are required to apply for their visa only in this manner. Applications for visas through an embassy or consulate can take up to five working days, and are stamped in your passport once approved. While often not convenient to do when traveling around Asia, this is the best way for traveling to the country from your home country.

Cambodia visa

Visa on Arrival

For passport holders of most countries, there is an available visa-on-arrival service that can be used at all the international airports in Cambodia, as well as almost all land border crossings. Application for the visa is simple, and can be filled in when you arrive at the border or immigration desk at the airport (the application is given on the plane for those flying into the country). If you do not have photos available, the immigration officials charge two dollars to take them for you.

Cambodia visa on arrival

E-visa

The fastest way to get your visa for Cambodia is their new e-visa service. It takes around three days to get the e-visa processed and ready to download in PDF format, and can be applied for through the official government website at www.evisa.gov.kh/. Payment can only be made online using VISA or MasterCard credit and debit cards, and it can be done from any terminal with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. However, this does cost US$ 37, so is the most expensive option.

Useful Tips for visa application

For visitors from many countries, a visa is not really required for visiting Thailand, since there is such a high number of countries that have a visa-free entitlement. However, if you are planning to stay in Thailand for more than 15 days, or are planning on coming back to the country after visiting somewhere else within Asia, it often pays to get your visa in advance from an Embassy, as this is the only way you can get a longer visa or a multiple-entry visa for Thailand.

It is also important to note that, when applying for the Visa on Arrival at one of the land border crossings, it is better to pay for the visa fee in US dollars, as the cost of the visa in Thai baht is normally up to twice as much as when paying in dollars.

Visa picture

The best options to obtain a visa for Vietnam are by using the online options for the Visa on Arrival and E-visa, as these are the easiest application processes for visas. However, this does depend on how you are entering the country, as the Visa on Arrival is not available at the land border crossings. The only disadvantage of the online application is the need to pay for the visa fee online using only MasterCard or VISA cards. The E-visa is the easiest option for most people that can pay online, and is fast becoming the most popular option for western tourists traveling to Vietnam from other Asian countries.

Despite being the more costly option for obtaining a visa for Cambodia, the E-visa is the best option of all three, and can make applying for the visa faster and more convenient. However, you do need to have a valid MasterCard or VISA credit card to use this option. For those that do not, the Visa on Arrival is the perfect option. Applicable at almost every entry point into Cambodia, and all entry points from both Thailand and Vietnam, the visa application process is the simplest and most helpful, with the addition of being able to have your passport photo scanned for the price of a dollar of you do not have photos for the visa stamp.

Summary

For all three countries, there are simple and easy methods of obtaining the visa for entry, and for those on a combined tour of Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, using the online options for applying for the visas is often the best way to go. And with all three countries now offering either a Visa on Arrival service or E-visa service, it has never been simpler to travel between these three amazing Indochinese nations.